Physical Sciences Staff Awards & Honors

April 2015

Team Creates Special Volume Commemorating Second Half Century of Innovations in Mass Spectrometry

Dr. Jean Futrell, Dr. Michael Bowers, and Diane Stephens brought the latest special issue of the International Journal of Mass Spectrometry to life. The issue highlights the modern advances of mass spectrometry.

Congratulations to Dr. Jean Futrell, Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory (PNNL), on being Guest Editor for the International Journal of Mass Spectrometry special issue entitled MS History: 1960's to Now.Also, congratulations
to Diane Stephens, PNNL, who assisted him in coordinating all aspects of this
volume. The issue completes a series recognizing the inception of mass
spectrometry just over a century ago. This collection of 77 articles includes
retrospectives by people who made major advances in the field. Each
retrospective is accompanied by current research articles illustrating the
impact of mass spectrometry, from fundamental studies in physics to
applications in energy.

Professor Michael Bowers, Special Issues Editor for IJMS publisher Elsevier, invited Futrell
to serve as Guest Editor. They collaborated on the volume's theme and selecting
the international experts who participated in this project. Futrell was chosen because
of his innovations over more than 5 decades, including the development or major
modification of some 20 mass spectrometers. He is known for the invention of
tandem mass spectrometry, a technique deployed in nearly every commercial mass
spectrometer. He joined PNNL as EMSL Director and recently was appointed Battelle
Fellow Emeritus.

Diane Stephens worked closely with Futrell for nearly two
years coordinating the creation of this special volume, solving countless
issues involving over two hundred individual authors and editorial assistants
at Elsevier. Diane is an administrator in
the Chemical Physics and Analysis group, and has been with PNNL for 14 years.
In addition to administrative duties, she coordinates major proposals, project
reviews and conferences.

Congratulations to all on an outstanding compendium on the
history and role of mass spectrometry in the molecular sciences.